People v. Merritt

*821 A jury convicted defendant Andre Merritt of two counts of robbery and found true allegations that he personally used a firearm during both robberies. However, the trial court failed to give the standard jury instruction on the elements of robbery. The failure to instruct on the elements of a charged crime is serious constitutional error that impacts a defendant's fundamental right to a jury trial. We must decide whether the error can ever be found harmless.

In People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233 , 18 Cal.Rptr.2d 796 , 850 P.2d 1 ( Cummings ), this court held similar error to be…